Exodus 17:1
:1 "Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey . . . and camped in REPHIDIM; but there was no water for the people to drink."

The children of Israel were tired of their journey and they were weak and thirsty. They camped in Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. We know that the Word is the "Water" which washes us and quenches our thirst when we read it. Rephidim = Place of weakness; discouragement and feeble knees.

When we come to Rephidim (place of weakness), we do not have to camp there and die of thirst No we can take the Word (water) which strengthen us and move on. When we "camp" in Rephidim, Amalek (the enemy) will come because of our weakness, and remember there is no water (Word).

Exodus 17:8
:8 "Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim".

Deuteronomy 25
:17 "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt,
:18 "...how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God".

I am going to stay out of Rephidim by staying at the water - the Word of God.

Exodus 17:14.
:14 "Then the Lord said to Moses, write this for a memorial . . . I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven".

The Lord said here to Moses that He is going to destroy Amalek - the enemy (Satan and his kingdom). And when the Lord said He is going to do something, we can count on it. It will come to pass. Like in the days of Moses, God is looking for a man (woman) that will stand against Amalek in the Name of God. May God find us willing to do that.

Years passed, but God said He is going to destroy Amalek and He found a man in Saul to do it.

1 Samuel 15:1-7
:2 "This says the Lord of hosts: I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he come up from Egypt".
:3 "Now go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them".

Are we ready to be found by God to go and "utterly destroy" Amalek (the works of the enemy in our and the body's lives)?

Saul went out and attacked Amalek, but . . .

1 Samuel 15:7-11
:9 . . . "but Saul and the people spared Agag and the . . . and were unwilling to utterly destroy them . . .
:10 Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying
:11 I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king . . . "

Samuel spoke to Saul.

1 Samuel 15:18-19, 26
:18 "Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy . . .
:19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? . . . Saul had his answers ready for Samuel,. . . to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal." (:21) and Samuel reminded him that "to obey is better than sacrifice" (:22).
:26 " . . . you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.

After Saul failed to do the will of God "I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven", Amalek came back and attacked Israel again.

1 Samuel 30:1-3
David's Conflict with the Amalekites
:1 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,
:2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.
:3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.

David knew what to do.

1 Samuel 30:6-8
:6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
:7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
:8 So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all."

David did what God told him to do and pursued Amalek.

1 Samuel 30:17-20
:17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
:18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.
:19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.
:20 Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, "This is David's spoil."

Again some of the Amalekites escaped and the Word of God said "I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven", the last battle against Amalek took place.

1 Chronicles 4:42-43
:42 Now some of them, five hundred men of the sons of Simeon, went to Mount Seir, having as their captains Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.
:43 And they defeated the rest of the Amalekites who had escaped. They have dwelt there to this day.

When God said that He is going to do something, we can be assured that He will do it. God said He "will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven", and He did. In our lives, God will do the same. If we can be obedient and do what God tells us to do, He will "utterly destroy" {Amalek} the enemy in our lives.

Looking at the above history which happened in the Old Testament, we can clearly see that through Scripture there is a live lesson for us today.

So many times God tells us to do something to strengthen us. A clear commandment in the Word is that we should pray. But if we decide to do our own thing and only pray when we feel like it or when trouble hits, we will become weak and we will end up in the place called "Rephidim", the place of weakness. And this is where the enemy is waiting for us.

The Scripture say that "our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour". When we are weak, we are opening the door for the enemy to "devour" us. The enemy does not have the right to attack and devour us, unless we open the door by disobedience. If he had, he would not "walk about like a roaring lion, seeking".

Let us purpose in our hearts to stay out of "Rephidim", the place of weakness by staying in obedience to the Word of God.